JOHN W. FREELAND
Mr.
Freeland was born in Owen county, Indiana, August 28, 1840,
and became a resident of Wayne county, Iowa, when a youth of
seventeen years. It
was his purpose to enter upon the study of law here in the
office of W. E. Taylor, then a distinguished member of the
Wayne county bar. He
continued his reading for a few years and was then admitted to
practice by the Hon. J. S. Townsend, who at this time was
presiding judge. Immediately
afterward he entered into partnership with his former
preceptor under the firm style of Taylor & Freeland, which
firm continued actively in practice until after the outbreak
of the Civil war. Mr.
Freeland continued the practice of law with various partners
until about four years prior to his death, his active
connection with the Wayne county bar covering almost a half
century. Following
the dissolution of his partnership with Mr. Taylor he was
later associated successively in practice with J. N.
McClanahan, E. E. Clark, Lewis Miles, H. K. Evans and H. H.
Carter. He came
to the starting point of his legal career well qualified
through natural ability and his broad study for the onerous
duties of the profession and he prepared his cases with great
thoroughness and skill.
He had been in practice for but a comparatively brief
period when he was elected county judge and remained upon the
bench for one term. He
more greatly enjoyed, however, the active work of the lawyer
and was ever a close student of his profession. As a result of his
strong legal mind, sound judgment, cool deliberation and clear
reasoning powers he reached a position at the head of the
Wayne county bar.
In
January, 1862, Mr. Freeland was united in marriage to Miss
Belle Kelley, a daughter of B. H. Kelley, a prominent citizen
of Corydon. The
great grief of his life came to him in the death of his wife
at Corydon on the 24th of April, 1903. They were the
parents of three children, Mrs. J. G. Garrett, Mrs. Frank B.
Selby and Mrs. F. M. West.
The family have ever occupied a leading position in
social circles—those circles in which intelligence and
personal worth are accepted as the passports to good society. Mr. Freeland made
for himself a prominent position and yet there was nothing
self-assertive about him.
In fact he was unostentatious and unassuming in manner,
but his genuine personal worth received recognition. He was but a boy in
years when he arrived in Corydon, which then contained a
population of less than one hundred. Through the ensuing half century or more
he took an active and helpful part in all that pertained to
the welfare and advancement of the town and county.
In
1873 Mr. Freeland became associated with E. E. Clark, now
president of the Banker’s Life Association, in the ownership
and conduct of a bank. They
purchased the bank of Ocobock Brothers and under the style of
Freeland & Clark continued the business until August,
1874. Mr.
Freeland was then largely instrumental in organizing the Wayne
County Bank, which took over the business of Freeland &
Clark, and four years after its organization he became
president and so continued until his death, remaining active
in its management and control to the last.
He
never regarded politics as something unworthy his attention. He always
recognized the duties and obligations as well as privileges of
citizenship and he never failed to give honest expression to
his opinions. He
was a stalwart advocate of democratic principles and from 1865
until 1895 was the recognized leader of his party in Wayne
county, largely directing and shaping its course and
influencing the choice of its candidates. He never sought nor
desired office for himself but strove earnestly to place in
public positions men capable and worthy of the honor conferred
upon them. Mr.
Freeland was recognized as a man of wide general information,
resulting from his broad reading, his earnest study and deep
thinking. He
frequently made addresses before the Corydon Friday Club which
were listened to with much interest. Few laymen have so comprehensive and
accurate a knowledge of geology and he had gathered from many
parts of the United States a large collection of geological
speciments.
Perhaps
personal characteristics of Mr. Freeland may best be given in
the words of a friend, who, following his death, which
occurred April 27, 1912, wrote of him: “He was ever and
always a courteous and pleasant gentleman. He was highly
honorable and was a man of strictest integrity. He was an honest
man, and well has it been said that ‘an honest man is the
noblest work of God.’ While
he was ever courteous, yet he was always open, plain and frank
in conduct and speech. He
never pretended to be otherwise than what he really was. He hated and
despised sham and hypocrisy.
He was an exceedingly kind, loving and affectionate
husband and father. His
home life was very happy and was the most pleasant, the purest
and the best. In
his death his children and grandchildren have suffered an
irreparable loss. He
was always reticent in regard to religious questions and never
said anything publicly on those matters. Whatever he may
have said in relation to religion and a future life, if
anything, was only to his most intimate friends. But, whatever his
views may have been as to these matters, all who knew him and
his life know that he lived an honest, upright and goodly
life. That life
shows that his heart, his intentions, his motives and purposes
were strictly in line with rectitude and a clean, elevated and
conscientious spirit.” Another
said: “He was
not an old man. People
of his temperament never grow old. He enjoyed company and was a genial
companion to both aged and young. He was quiet, unassuming and very
unselfish, yet his life was a material benefit to all,
especially the young man, struggling for a start, to whom he
was always a friend indeed.
Words fail us to portray the good qualities of this
friend whom we enjoyed as a near neighbor for over thirty
years. Our
children grew up together and mingled as one family through
all those years, making our relations as near and dear as it
was possible to be. During
all those years we knew him as a neighbor, as a man and as a
friend who could be relied upon under any and all
circumstances. During
all that time we never knew him to commit a selfish act or do
an unmanly deed. He
was not a man of words, but of deeds, and his many acts of
kindness will live in memory long after his passing away. Though his outward
demeanor was quiet, yet beneath his exterior he had a heart as
true as steel and as firm as adamant to what he believed to be
right. Mr.
Freeland was a friend to everyone, but especially was he fond
of children and in the sunset of his life there was no greater
pleasure to him than to contribute to the pleasure of his
grandchildren, who especially adored him.